The Construction Diary

Chapter 3: From the Ground Up

From the Ground Up

The Construction Diary

Chapter 3: From the Ground Up

 

If you’ve been following The Construction Diary (if you haven’t, you definitely should), you’ll know that my husband

and I are currently building our dream home.

After going through permit applications and jumping through some hoops for the monumental authority, we are now finally beginning the construction of the physical house!

From the Ground Up

Unless you’re highly skilled, you will need a contractor to oversee your new house. A contractor can help you to choose materials, manage your builders and other tradespeople, and help to bring your vision to life.

Given that our property is classed as a monumental property (more on this in chapter one), we decided not to hire a general contractor. Our house is special (not just because it’s ours), and comes with a unique set of challenges. Mainly, if there are changes or specifications given to us by the monumental authority.

From the Ground Up

Like every new house, we had to start with the foundation and the shell of the house. So we began our search! We quickly found that searching for a contractor can feel a little like online dating. I was reminded of how lucky I am that I don’t have to do it anymore.

We started our search with the best of intentions and we were lucky enough to find a contractor who we thought would be a perfect fit for us and our home. However, as it so often is in the dating world, this was all a little too good to be true.

The person who we thought was our dream contractor disappeared without a word! This left us panicked and rushing to find a new contractor as quickly as possible. We were calling everyone we could, and like a friend setting us on a blind date, our Engineer suggested someone who would be a good match for us.

We reached out to this potential new suitor and they were perfect. We were so relieved – we had a contractor! Or so we thought…

Suddenly, we were unable to contact our new contractor. I keep asking myself how unlucky we could possibly be. One goes by and nothing. Two days go by, nothing still. Three, four, fives days and still no word.

A week passed and we were still in the dark until we receive a call from our new contractor! He informs us that he has spent the last week in the ICU battling severe COVID symptoms. It had been so long, we were simply relieved and grateful to hear that he was ok. Luckily for us, he was well and ready to get to work! It seemed the good luck was spreading around.

Finally, we were able to start putting things into place. We finalized a schedule and the plans for the foundation and shell of our new home.

From the Ground Up

We managed to source contractors for our sanitary and electrical needs, as well as our fireplace, windows, and doors. We hope to also have people organised for our kitchen and toilets soo as well.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t stressful. That being said, the relief and excitement I am feeling are certainly helping to forget my feelings of stress. We’ve broken ground, and we are one brick closer to having our home become a reality.

If I could give any advice, I would recommend getting your contractors booked as quickly as possible. Although we had our issues trying to do this, it can understand now that it would make things much easier.

From the Ground Up

You may be surprised to learn that contractors can disappear at the drop of a hat – I certainly was! So, have a backup plan if you can, perhaps even a plan C. You shouldn’t have to put your house on hold waiting for somebody else.

As much as we may try, stress seems to be unavoidable in our lives – especially when it comes to important things in life. I’ve learned that staying positive and planning as best you can help to minimise your stress. I’ve also learned that the people around you tend to have a way of coming through in times of need.

 


Stay tuned for chapter 4 to keep up to date with the very latest of our construction diary!

In the meantime, you could check the rest of my blog for some more interesting articles  HERE.

 

 

 

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